U.S. stock futures rose ahead of a curtailed trading session on Black Friday, with Wall Street’s main indexes set for monthly gains as the holiday shopping season kicked off, turning the spotlight on retail stocks.
Investors will scrutinize the stocks of retailers expected to attract millions of shoppers with their deep Black Friday discounts, as customers start their year-end holiday shopping.
The National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group, expects roughly 85.6 million shoppers to visit stores this year, up from 76 million on Black Friday in 2023.
Shares of Target (NYSE: TGT) rose 0.7%, TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) climbed 0.5%, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) edged up 0.2% and Nike (NYSE: NKE) added 0.5% in premarket trading.
“This mega promotional event is a mixed blessing for retailers. It provokes such shopping mania in the quest for a good deal that around three-quarters of people will actually put off spending in the run-up to the event,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“During the promotional period, it also means selling at a discount… (which) means a smaller profit margin at a time when they are being squeezed by rising staff costs.”
At 07:06 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 172 points, or 0.38%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.30%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 69.25 points, or 0.33%.
Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 1%.
Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Wednesday, the eve of the Thanksgiving Holiday, after data showed signs of sticky inflation, bolstering bets the U.S. Federal Reserve could stay cautious on interest-rate cuts in 2025.
The three main indexes were on track for monthly gains, with the benchmark S&P set for its biggest one-month rise since February. An index tracking small-cap companies hit a record high earlier in the week and was poised for its steepest monthly rise year-to-date.
President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election earlier this month, along with his Republican Party winning the majority in both houses of Congress, provided the latest boost for equities.
Investors were pricing in expectations Trump’s policies on tax cuts, tariffs, and deregulation could spur economic growth and corporate performance. However, concerns remained that the policies could also stoke upside price pressures, slow the pace of the Fed’s policy easing, and weigh on global growth prevail.
Traders expect the central bank to lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points at its December meeting but see it pausing rate cuts in January and March, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch.
Speaking about Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on the country’s top trade partners, President Joe Biden said he hopes the president-elect will rethink his plan, saying it could “screw up” the United States’ relationships with close allies.
Crypto stocks were up as bitcoin climbed 2.3%, trading at about $97,000. MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) rose 4.7%, MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) added 1.9%, and Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT) advanced 3.8%.
Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ: APLT) plunged 72% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its drug for the treatment of a rare genetic metabolic disease.
Analysts expect stock moves to be impacted by thin volumes after Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.
